We Can’t Flatten the Curve of Grief
The struggle not to let anxiety win can only be fought with kind words, mutual support, and ice cream.
Last week, a man died in a nearby hospital of Covid-19, the first in our county. His family, his children, said goodbye to him on a video call. He died without his loved ones by his side, and now his family is left to grieve without the possibility of a funeral or memorial services.
Where I live, the deaths are just beginning. In Washington, there have been over 70, and I have no doubt that my local hospital will follow the pattern seen everywhere else. Deaths will double, then triple. We will be overwhelmed. We are already in territory none of us have walked before, and we’re not handling it very well.
I’m surviving the best I can as an empath during this crisis, but it’s hard. When I read the news of the first death in my county- a man who my best friends knew, whose children they grew up with- I had a panic attack. I’m pretty good at recognizing them now, and I pulled up a guided breathing gif and drank some water and managed to calm down.
I am used to the ebb and flow of anxiety and depression that can come with bad news, but I’m not at all used to this duration…
